
Shows that feel likeSmallville (2001–2011)
If you loved Smallville, the closest series we have are Superman & Lois (2021), MacGyver (1985) and The Gifted (2017). Most of the picks below share Smallville's epic and kinetic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.
Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Into the Badlands (2015).
If Smallville hit the spot, these will too

The same two preoccupations: superhero, and alien
The difference: Takes it somewhere less epic than Smallville does

Hopeful where it counts, epic underneath
The difference: Trades the wistfulness of Smallville for an angle of its own

Powers as a family secret that puts everyone at the table in danger
The difference: Hunted-on-the-run tension throughout, with none of the small-town calm

A secret kept from everyone, and a small circle who help maintain it
The difference: Spy plotting and a team, no small town

A gifted young man under a mentor's thumb, learning what he is for
The difference: Stylised martial-arts brutality in a bleak feudal world, not high school

A long origin story where everyone becomes who you already know
The difference: Crime opera, grim and much darker

Common ground: superhero

An heir with a secret returning to a corporate family legacy
The difference: Flat and joyless, and much shorter

Both are Alfred Gough's work, and they rhyme

Drama with a pulse of wistfulness, in both cases


Kinetic action & adventure in both cases
In the mood for more hopeful?
all hopeful shows →The best-reviewed series that share Smallville’s defining feeling.









